The Redbird Report 02/02

Staff

02/02/2008

The Cardinals were starting-pitching shy last year, but such free agents as Bartolo Colon, Kyle Lohse, Josh Fogg and Livan Hernandez were drawing only modest attention from the club as general manager John Mozeliak preferred to find another starter from within.

Wellemeyer is an interesting study. Exclusively a reliever in his big-league career, Wellemeyer, because of injury, was pressed into service for 11 starts last season after the Cardinals picked him up from Kansas City on waivers.

The Cardinals were 9-2 in those games, with Wellemeyer compiling a 3-1 mark and a 3.65 ERA.

Wellemeyer, 29, also fanned 15 hitters in 14 1/3 innings of relief for the Cardinals.

--Cuban outfield prospect Amaury Cazana Marti will be in his first big-league camp. The slugger, who is somewhere north of 30 years old, had six homers in 107 at-bats at Class AA Springfield last season.

--RHP Todd Wellemeyer was the last arbitration-eligible candidate to come to terms, agreeing to a one-year deal estimated at $1 million.